The Scottish Greens are holding their conference at Pollock Halls in Edinburgh this weekend as numbers of member are reported to have risen to their highest since 2016.

The newly elected co-leaders, MSPs Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay held a photo call at the Palestine Museum on Dundas Street.

Gillian Mackay told The Edinburgh Reporter that she hopes members will go away from the two day conference enthused by what they see and hear.

Ahead of the conference, co-leader Ross Greer has published a letter to Labour voters telling them that the Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar, is not standing up to Keir Starmer, and that their party is pushing them into poverty while at the same time arming Israel against Palestinians in Gaza.

Text of open letter by Ross Greer

Dear neighbours,

It’s time to bring hope back to Scotland.

Last year you voted Labour to rid us of the cruelty, scandal and harm of the last Tory government. You rightly voted for change, but Keir Starmer has no intention of delivering that.

This is a Labour government in name only. 

With a growing and revitalised Scottish Green Party, we can replace Labour in Scotland and deliver the real change you, your family and your community really need.

The first thing Keir Starmer did was plunge pensioners into poverty by cutting winter fuel payments. Then his government doubled down by attacking disabled people.

Labour betrayed the workers at Grangemouth while protecting the billionaires and tax avoiders who’ve rigged the system in their own favour.

They armed Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, cut lifesaving international aid and stuck with a disastrous Tory Brexit that has cost jobs and hiked up prices.

This isn’t what we waited 14 years for. They do not deserve your support, or your vote.

There is an alternative. The Scottish Greens are on your side.

We have shown what we can do by delivering free bus travel for young people, scrapping peak rail fares, cancelling school meal debts and introducing rent controls – all paid for by asking the wealthiest people to pay their fair share.

We will stand up to the super-rich and big polluters who have bought the Labour party. With your support, we can beat them and build the fairer, greener Scotland you deserve.

Ross Greer Co-leader, Scottish Greens

Gillian Mackay welcomed the new membership numbers – which she hopes is at least in part due to the change in leadership. With 8279 members, the highest level since 2016, the Greens say they have overtaken the Scottish Tories and Liberal Democrats. They comment that Scottish Labour refuses to publish membership figures, but claim these are “widely reported to be in freefall”.

The Scottish Greens conference is being live streamed on Facebook YouTube and Twitch from 11.30am.

Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.

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